Beck

by Jessie Cooke

  She was able to get enough oxygen into her lungs to say his name. She whispered, “Jace,” and it was like turning up the heat. Jace drilled into her harder and Beck couldn’t hold back any longer. She had an orgasm that she felt from the tips of her toes to the roots of her hair. It nearly doubled her in two. It made her knees weak and everything inside of her shake. Seconds later, when she opened her eyes, Jace was in the throes of his own orgasm. In a raspy, breathless voice she said, “Look at me, Jace.” He opened his eyes and something in them, just before he reached his peak, caused her body to convulse and tiny pulses of electricity to fill her body and make her feel more alive than she ever had. What is it about this guy? Beck knew she didn’t have time to figure it out just then...but it was at the top of her to-do list for sure.

  12

  Beck didn’t get nervous often but walking into that room full of bikers, who were all looking at her, came as close as she ever got. She had the impression, because of the curious looks they were all giving her, that Wolf hadn’t filled them in about who she was, or what this was about. Some of them were looking at her suspiciously and some of them were practically drooling. Bruf was standing up front behind Wolf, looking like the soldier he was. Fuck, he was hot. He had a bulky bandage on his arm where he’d been shot a few days earlier, but otherwise he looked like he was in perfect shape. Beck shouldn’t be thinking about sex already since Jace had just thoroughly satisfied her...but Bruf was sex on a stick, so it wasn’t really her fault. He didn’t look at her, though. He didn’t even glance in her direction, he just stared straight ahead.

  Wolf’s VP, a small man with beady, crazy-looking eyes that Beck recognized as Manson the day before, just from Coyote’s description, slammed down his gavel. “Let’s get started. We don’t have a lot of time. The party’s starting soon.” Beck wondered about that. They had seemed to be getting ready for the party the day before, but when she and Jace got to the club just now, it looked like they were ready for a lot of guests. The decorations however, looked like they were for a kid. The women had been coming in and out of the kitchen when she walked in, but they all stopped what they were doing and watched her like she was a circus freak until Jace led her to the room where Wolf had called church.

  “This young lady is Rebekah Golden. She goes by Beck. The day that Coyote was on his way out here from Boston to start this club, he met Beck’s mother alongside the road. Her mother was in labor, and Coyote delivered the baby...Beck.” The rumble of laughter across the room told Beck that none of them had an easy time picturing that. Manson slammed the gavel again and they all went silent immediately. Wolf went on talking. “I realize that’s hard to believe, but I’ve read Coyote’s accounts myself in his own words. As Beck was growing up, Coyote kept in contact with her. When she was eighteen, she joined the Navy and she was in for seventeen years. Yesterday when Beck rode up on her Harley, I was about to get my head blown off. Beck killed the man who was about to kill me. She saved my life.”

  The crowd rumbled again. Many were thanking her and there was both laughter and grumbling. Manson slammed the gavel but this time they didn’t fall silent so he said, “Quiet down now, you’ll have a chance to ask questions shortly.” Once they fell quiet again Wolf looked at Beck and said:

  “This morning I told Rebekah ‘no’ about something she wanted...something she’d come here to ask Coyote for before she knew he was dead. It was something that she and Coyote had talked about off and on since she was a kid. Again, I know this for a fact because I saw his letters.” Beck was surprised. That had to mean Wolf read a lot more of them or skipped forward to when she was a teen. She was thirteen the first time Coyote promised her that if she proved herself, he’d fight for a spot for her in the club. “I explained to Rebekah that I do things differently than my father. In Coyote’s day, he might have made this decision on his own, but that’s not me. Beck said something to me then that made a lot of sense. If I don’t make decisions without consulting my brothers, then who was I to say I wouldn’t even bring what she wanted to church?”

  “I got what you want.” The man’s voice was low, but it was also deep. The sound of it carried in the quiet room and Beck was sure everyone had heard it. She had been looking at him, unfortunately, and had to watch him grab his crotch when he said it. She wondered what Wolf might have said to him had Jace not already knocked off his chair and had him on his back on the concrete floor before the words were even processed in most of their brains. For several minutes there was yelling and punching and men trying to pull men off each other. Once the two men were wrenched apart, Wolf focused his dark brown eyes on the mouthy one and said:

  “What the fuck is wrong with you, Beau? Rebekah is a guest of this club and you know fucking well that you don’t disrespect anyone invited to this club, especially a guest of mine.”

  “Sorry, Boss.”

  “No!” Wolf snapped at him. “You tell her that you’re sorry.” The big, burly biker looked at Beck and with what almost looked like genuine remorse on his face he said:

  “Sorry.”

  “Fuck that,” Wolf said.

  “I’m sorry, miss. That was crude and inappropriate.”

  “Sit the fuck down,” Wolf told him. “Keep your mouth shut or you’re out of here.” Beau took his seat. Wolf looked at Jace but after Jace waited a few beats, the president didn’t say anything to him. Jace took his seat on his own and Wolf looked back at Rebekah and said, “I called an emergency session of church so you could present your case. You’ll be asked to leave when the vote is taking place and the results of this vote are nonnegotiable, do you understand?”

  “Yes,” Beck said, with her chin held high.

  “Okay, you have the floor.”

  She nodded at Wolf and then glancing around at all the men in the room she said, “I taught myself how to ride a Harley when I was sixteen. I’m thirty-five now, so I’ve been riding for almost twenty years. I can outride just about any man I’ve ever met and I’ve never had a single accident. I learned how to shoot in the Navy and if it weren’t for their ridiculous requirements of not allowing women in combat or special forces, I would have been a sniper and then a SEAL. I spent fifteen years training for the physical test for the SEALs. The minimum standards say I should be able to swim five hundred yards in twelve minutes, thirty seconds. I did it in nine. I should be able to do fifty pushups, I did one hundred; fifty sit-ups, I did one hundred; ten pull-ups, I did twenty; and I ran the mile in nine minutes, which was a minute and a half less than minimum standards. I’m a black belt. I’ve boxed with men twice my size and knocked them out. I learned honor and respect in the Navy, and in Coyote’s letters, he talked a lot about loyalty. I’m framing this because when you blurt out your immediate response, which I too believe is going to be ‘No,’ you’ll have to live with the fact that the only reason you had to say no, was my biology...my gender. So, getting on with it...when I was thirteen I told Coyote that I wanted to be in his club. At first he just went along with it, patronizing me, I guess. I’m sure he thought it was a phase. It wasn’t, though, and Coyote never lied to me. So, I came here so that he could see for himself how ready I am. Unfortunately for me, Coyote is dead. Wolf doesn’t agree with his father...that I should have a chance to get patched into the club.”

  That last sentence was like throwing a switch. The room was filled with loud voices and if she had to decide which way they were leaning, their tone told that story. No one seemed to be arguing for it. Those that weren’t arguing against it were simply silent. Wolf and Manson let the men talk to each other, commiserate about how nothing was sacred any longer, and who did she think she was? Beck looked up at Wolf. The look on his face wasn’t smug, but it definitely said, “I told you so.” Manson let the men talk for several minutes before finally banging his gavel and nicely telling them to shut up. When the room was quiet Wolf said:

  “You all know how this is done. Someone presents a prospect and we all vote on whether or not to accept them as suc
h. So, I’m presenting Rebekah Golden to you in consideration for a prospecting position.” Beck saw a hand go up in the front row as the low rumbles coursed through the room. Wolf pointed at him and the man stood. He was older, probably in his 50s, with salt-and-pepper hair and a white mustache that had to be a bitch when he was trying to sip coffee.

  “Yes, Malcolm?”

  “Is this for real, Boss?”

  Wolf chuckled and said, “Yep, it’s for real.”

  “I ain’t voting to let no woman in the club,” he said.

  “How fast do you run?” Rebekah asked him.

  “I don’t run,” he said, sarcastically. “I ride my bike.”‘

  “I could outrun you on your bike from here to the front gate.” He snorted and another guy behind her laughed. “What about you? How fast can you run a mile?”

  “You deaf?” The guy had on a vest that said “Pooch” on it. As soon as those words came out of his mouth he looked up at Wolf, who was glaring at him. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “But we don’t run here. This ain’t the Navy.”

  “You never had to run from the cops?”

  Pooch frowned and looked back up at Wolf. Wolf smiled and said, “Don’t look at me. I’ve never run from the cops. I do remember one night when you might have dumped your bike about a block away from that DUI checkpoint, though...?” Pooch didn’t even look back at Beck.

  “Look, guys, I know this is unheard of, okay? I knew you would have a problem with it. I’m not asking you to take a vote today and give me a prospect patch. I’m asking for a chance to prove myself. I’m asking you to put me through a test that not a single one of you would have to go through for the same. You guys are referred by friends, or Wolf sees you kick somebody’s ass or shoot, or ride, and you’re in. I’m standing here today in front of this entire club telling you that I’m willing to do whatever you ask me to do....”

  “You should just get on your knees then...” Jace was already on his feet before Beau finished.

  “Jace!” Wolf barked. “Sit down.” The room was completely silent and Beck knew that even if most of the guys thought Beau was an asshole for talking to her the way he was, it was still working against her. It would be just one more reason they would use for turning her down. Women cause drama, at least that’s what men think. “Beau, get the fuck out. I’ll deal with you when I’m finished here. I want you waiting in my office.”

  “Boss...”

  Wolf cocked an eyebrow. “You want me to have Jace escort you out?” Beau looked pissed, but he left. As soon as he was gone Beck launched back into it.

  “All I’m asking right now, at this minute, is that you don’t vote today. Let me show you what I can do first. Give me two weeks to prove to you that I can outfight, outrun, outride, and outshoot over half the men in this room. Then, hold your vote and if it’s still no, I’ll disappear.”

  “It won’t ever be yes,” a big American-Indian-looking guy said. His voice wasn’t rude, simply matter-of-fact. Beck didn’t engage him. Instead, she looked back up at Wolf and said,

  “I appreciate you letting me speak my piece no matter how this goes. I know you need to get on with your business so I’ll step out now. Thank you, Wolf, Manson,” she made eye contact with Bruf then for the first time, “Bruf, and all of the rest of you, for just allowing me to interrupt your day.” She turned on her heel then and as she made her way to the door, Jace caught her eye. She frowned at him. He looked confused. They were definitely going to have a serious talk if these guys voted to give her a chance. He couldn’t jump in and act like her knight in shining armor. She could take care of herself and she would be damned if she’d let him slay the dragons for her while she was trying to prove it.

  13

  “Beer.” Beck sat at the bar in the great room. Every eye in the place was on her and she could feel some of them burning a hole through her. The prospect behind the bar cocked an eyebrow at her but didn’t move to pour her a beer. “You waiting for it to brew back there, or...?”

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m a guest of Wolf Lee’s. Who are you?”

  He hooked a thumb in the front of his denim vest. “Name’s right there.” It said, Ace.

  “In case you forget how to spell it?”

  He narrowed his eyes at her and said, “I’ll get you that beer, but as soon as Wolf is done with church, I’m making sure you belong here.”

  Beck rolled her eyes. “You do that.” The prospect poured her beer and she was about to take a drink of it when she felt someone take the seat next to her. She went ahead and took her drink...and she took her time, before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and turning to look at who had sat down next to her. It was a woman, about her age, with long dark hair. She was hot, if you were into women, which Beck was not. She couldn’t fathom wanting to be with someone that had the same equipment as her. Hell, she was hotter than most women anyway; she might as well just play with herself. “What’s up?”

  “I’m Blair Lee.”

  “Okay.”

  “And you are?”

  Beck chuckled and took another drink of her beer. She knew Blair Lee had to know who she was. She also knew that if any of this shit was going to work, she’d have to have at least a few of the old ladies on her side. Wolf’s old lady would be at the top of the list...but she had a hard time relating to women. She didn’t know why, she just always had. Most of them were looking for her to make a move on their man, and she supposed that might be a fair assessment in most cases. But sex with Wolf would be like incest to her, and that was just sick. She tried to curb the asshole inside of her and she took a deep breath before pasting on a smile and saying, “Rebekah Golden, folks call me Beck.”

  Blair held out her hand. Beck cocked an eyebrow. Most women didn’t shake her hand, so it surprised her. Beck took the offered hand and as they shook Blair said, “Thank you, for saving my old man’s life the other day.”

  “No problem.”

  “Rebekah...”

  “Beck.”

  “Beck. Can I ask you a serious, kind of personal question?”

  Rebekah looked around. At least the people who were still hanging around the club, doing last-minute party things, had more respect for Wolf’s old lady than they did her. They’d gone back to work, or at least pretended to....and no one was searing Beck with a look. “Shoot.”

  “What are you looking to gain here?” Another long sip from her beer and then Beck said:

  “Gain? Like what do I want from Wolf?”

  “Why do you want to be in an all-male motorcycle club? I know there are women’s clubs out there...there’s one up in Modesto, I believe. Why this one?”

  Beck sat her mug down and asked Blair, “You have a father?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you close, you and him?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then maybe you can understand this. I never had a father, but in a way, I had Coyote. I know he wasn’t physically there, but it was like he was my mentor and my champion and my role model...I don’t know if you knew him and I know when I say all of that to people who did, it’s hard for them to believe...”

  “Wolf let me read a few of the letters. I do understand why you would feel close to him.”

  “So, since you and your dad are close, did you ever do things with him that weren’t traditionally things women do?”

  Blair smiled and said, “Yeah, all the time. I learned how to shoot and fish by the time I was seven. I went hunting for the first time when I was eight. He taught me how to drive the Jeep up in the mountains as soon as I could reach the pedals. I got a degree in psychology, but instead of using it as a psychologist in an office or something, I became a probation officer because I needed some kind of adrenaline rush. So yeah, Beck...I do understand the drive to be accepted in a man’s world. I respect it, and I’m sure you kicked ass in the Navy. But these guys, Beck...they’re a different breed. They still think of women as property...most of them.”

  “
Does Wolf? Are you his property?” Blair laughed.

  “No.”

  “Then they don’t all think that way. Coyote didn’t think that way. Maybe if enough of them don’t think that way, we could make some positive changes. We could open new doors for women, everywhere.”

  Blair was still smiling as she said, “Okay, you had me right up until you tried to pretend you gave a shit about opening doors for other women.”

  Beck grinned and finished what was in her mug. Wiping her mouth again she said, “It was worth a shot. It makes me sound a little better than I just fucking want this, and I know I can do it.” The door opened to the meeting room and Blair and Beck both looked in that direction. Bruf stepped out. It still seemed hard for him to look her in the eyes, but he did as he said, “Wolf is ready for you to come back in.” As she got up off the stool Blair said:

  “Good luck, Beck.” She sounded sincere. Beck winked at her before turning and following Bruf back inside.

  It was as quiet as a tomb when she walked in. She couldn’t read them without looking at their faces and she didn’t want to do that. She looked at Bruf’s back until he stepped aside and left her standing in the center of the room, facing Wolf. His face didn’t look happy. “Well, we had a little discussion and a vote. Some of the guys believe that even entertaining your request is a slap in the face to the club. Some of them want to give you a chance. But everyone agrees that we can’t and won’t make special concessions for you or anyone else. A lot of the men in this room knew my father, and despite sometimes not agreeing with his decisions, we all have to admit that Coyote was smart and most of what he did for this club and for us, at least in the end, turned out to be exactly what we needed. So, with that in mind, we want to respect what Coyote wanted, which was you...” Beck gasped. She had never expected them to say yes. She had hoped, but not expected.